


Looking On

by LittleSweetCheeks



Category: Madam Secretary
Genre: Fluffy, Gen, rom com
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 10,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29886231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: Rom Com of Jay and Nadine's friendship since they began working together.
Relationships: Nadine Tolliver & Jay Whitman
Comments: 33
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am pantsing this one, so it might post a little slower. Tags and things will update as I get into it but I am keeping it in the Rom Com realm, so fluffy and fun though there made be angsty moments they face. And this time it will have a HEA ending.

Jay slumped into the tiny shared office without looking at his officemate and sank heavy into his chair, his head landing with a hollow thunk on his desk. He waited for her to say something, counted clear to thirty and then accepted that she was waiting him out.

“Senator Shannon’s policy _girl_ is nothing more than a bleach blonde bimbo.” He huffed. Still no reaction. “I’m pretty sure her college transcripts have as many D’s as her bra.”

That did it. The next thing Jay knew, his officemate burst into peals of her slightly crazed, loud, and out of control laughter. He loved hearing it, which was good seeing as inside the privacy of their tiny office, he heard it nearly daily. Jay went to great lengths to make her laugh, especially on the days when things got hard.

He rolled his head to the side and watched her laugh a minute across the surface of their desks, laden with files. She was rocked back in her chair, bare feet up on the small file cabinet at the end of her desk with her ankles crossed. Her long hair was down today, draped over her shoulders. When she finally calmed again and looked his way, she flicked it behind her shoulders and then grinned.

Jay lifted his head. “Too early to dip into the secret file?”

“Just a bit.” Her dark eyes danced with amusement. “Get through and we’ll go out tonight and you can forget all about her breasts.”

It made him snort. He’d been working for Senator Marsh for six months, a job he was thrilled to have. He was working directly under, and sharing an office with, Marsh’s head policy advisor, a woman who’d worked for the Senator from the bottom up, a career already spanning nearly two decades. Outside their shared room with its sketchy climate control and depressingly small window, she was stern and struck fear in nearly everyone on the staff. Inside their office, she was witty, smart, and loved to joke around.

“I can’t believe that, as a man, I’m saying this, but I am looking forward to not thinking about breasts.”

Nadine began to laugh again. “I won’t tell anyone.” She giggled a bit more. “Speak of, though…”

“Oh, here we go!”

“How’d that date go the other night?”

Jay debated how much to say. Sarah had been tall, blonde, and cheerful. She was a Harvard graduate and got a shoo-in position with a nonprofit in the city. She was, in theory, perfect. Except she didn’t get his jokes and didn’t share his interest in obscure films and older books. They had nothing in common. “I don’t think I’ll see her again.”

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “Wasn’t for me.”

“That’s too bad, I was thinking we could double date.” She wore a pleased look now. “Steve has earned a second date and I thought you could give your assessment of him.”

“Is he ready for that?” In their short time as friends, Jay had found himself oddly protective of her when it came to her dating life. It hadn’t taken him very long at all to realize that for as brilliant as Nadine was in her job, when it came to picking men, she, well… sucked at it.

“He’ll have to be.”

“Well, I’ll find someone to be my date for the evening and we’ll go. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”


	2. Chapter 2

Jay stared down Steve over a glass of water, judging every nervous tic, every poor attempt at playing it cool. He was on his own joining them tonight because he couldn’t find a date he was willing to bring.

“So you, uh, you work with Nadine?” Steve shifted in his seat, his question coming seconds after Nadine had excused herself to the restroom.

“I do. We share an office.”

“You two ever- you know?” He sounded honestly curious and it made Jay shake his head.

“Never. Why? Would it matter if we had?”

Steve shook his head rapidly, eyes searching, waiting for Nadine to return. “No. Not at all. I just…” He swallowed, clearly nervous about something. He leaned over closer to Jay. “I just didn’t know how good she’d really be in the sack, you know? Skinny chick like that?”

It looked like he was going to carry on, but Jay cut him off. “How, exactly, did the two of you meet?”

“This woman in my department, Mildred, we went out a couple times and it didn’t work out but she said she thought Nadine would love me. She- she was a bit meatier and I thought we were going good up until then. She just up and broke it off one day. I was just asking questions, trying to get to know her and she said she was too busy for a relationship.”

Jay tried to work out if he’d heard Nadine mention a Mildred in the past. “What kind of questions were you asking?”

“Normal stuff.” Steve finally looked at Jay. “I asked if she’d like me to cook for her more so she could bulk up. You know? Add on a few more pounds. She didn’t need much. Not like Nadine’ll need.” His face lit up. “Here she comes.”

As Nadine retook her seat beside Steve, she reached out for his hand. “What’d I miss?”

Jay looked at her directly. “Steve here was just telling me how he’s into feederism.”

===

Carrying two margaritas to the table, Jay passed one over and nearly laughed at how fast Nadine snatched and chugged a third of it down. “It wasn’t that bad.”

She shot daggers at him but didn’t say a word, eyeing the plate of mixed appetizers Jay had ordered warily.

He decided to ask what he really wanted to know. “I take it you and Mildred are not friends then?”

That got her talking. “Of all the nasty, underhanded… disgusting things a woman could do to another woman! Setting me up with a man like that for her own amusement!” She huffed in irritation. “I can’t believe she stooped that low!”

“But why’d she do it?”

Nadine glared at him again before drinking more of her drink. “I found out her last boss was in bed with a company that was suspected of laundering money. I used it as leverage to get him to vote with Marsh on a bill to help bolster clean water initiatives in Africa. We got the vote but her boss lost his reelection supposedly because of it and then in his downward spiral got caught up in the laundering investigation. She blames me for what she sees as her career having been railroaded. The man was a snake, if anything I did her a favor.”

Jay laughed in spite of himself, knowing it was risking incurring her wrath.

“Men are pigs. They always want to change me.” She scoffed, working quickly through her margarita. “Turn me into a housewife, a trophy wife.” She leaned against one elbow on the table and Jay pushed his untouched drink within reach and pulled her now empty glass away. “Normally they want to make me thinner, now they want to make me fat!” She worked on his drink as fast as she’d been working on hers. “D’ you know what some guys are into, Jay?”

When he realized she was seriously asking, eyes mostly focused on him even in her rapid descent into drunkenness. “No, I don’t know.”

“Spanking. Tying me up. I just want a guy to like me who doesn’t want to fetishize me or- or change me. There was a guy, this was before you, and he got turned on watching me boss people around. The comments were weird enough, but I ignored them until he wandered into my office with his pants tended and a few suggestions on how to fix it.”

He was so glad he wasn’t drinking anything. “Wha- what’d you do?”

“Stopped having my own office.” Her free hand started pushing around the food on the plate, pulling out a quesadilla wedge that she started swirling in sour cream with no obvious intention to do anything other than play with it. Her eyes found his again. “Oh, he was convinced I just needed to see what he had to offer and I’d change my mind. Before security got to him, he managed that much.”

“…And?”

With a straight face, she raised her right hand up and wiggled just her pinky in the air before bursting into giggles. When she calmed, she leaned into his shoulder. “Jay?”

“Yes?”

“Why can’t I find just one good guy?”


	3. Chapter 3

It was like watching a stray strip of silver confetti as it twisted in the air, the way she seemed to curl around the frame of their office door and then sink onto the tiny couch they’d crammed against one wall, legs folded under her.

Jay cocked his head and waited. After a minute, the start of a smile flicked the very corner of her lips, making Jay grin. “Who is it?”

His question seemed to make her melt into the seat. “His name’s Reggie.” A slight blush crept up her cheeks. “I met him at the mixer.”

“Good guy?”

Her left shoulder lifted half an inch and she tucked her chin near it. “He works in Representative Ohlerman’s office.”

“So he passed the first level background check.” He teased. With every passing guy, he found himself digging further in their histories to avoid more freaks turning up. He had real concerns about her safety sometimes. Beautiful, single women had both a kind of power and a kind of vulnerability in DC.

“He’s fine.” She brushed off his concern as she always did.

“So, where’s he taking you?”

This time when her mouth twitched, it was downward. “Le Crus.” If she was trying to convince him that didn’t bother her, she wasn’t doing a good job today. “Dinner’s tonight, reservations at seven.”

“I’ll be by my phone.” He nodded.

As gracefully as she’d settled onto the couch, she rose again to sit behind her desk. “Thank you, Jay.”

“Always.” He meant it. Every date she had in recent months, he was the phone call that came in case she needed a work emergency. Part of that was his concern for her safety, but also because he wondered if she even had anyone else to do it for her. So far she’d never mentioned any other family, no friends. He wondered if she had anyone in her life at all.

When they’d found a weekend day spare, she’d invited him once to hang out and they’d ended up not at a museum but at a flea market on the far side of the city, searching through all kinds of kitschy baubles. She’d regaled him with the history of all sorts of random items they’d come across and then had found some greasy spoon diner for an early dinner.

Those weren’t the kinds of places her suitors took her, however. Le Crus came up every other month as well as other reservation-only places around the city.

Guys never seemed to consider that she might hate Le Crus.

===

At seven thirty on the dot, Jay pressed the speed dial on his phone and waited. They’d talk for a second and she’d confirm she was fine and he’d get to relax until she called to say she was on the way home.

“Hey, Jay. I hope this isn’t an emergency.” She sounded cheerful, upbeat.

“No, no emergency tonight.”

There was an obvious sigh. “Oh good.” He heard her giggle. “You know, I may be late in tomorrow. Can you take the meeting with Marsh for me?”

“Not a problem.” He bid her goodnight and ended the call. Reggie sounded promising.

Reggie lasted three months.


	4. Chapter 4

With a swath of Senate hearings coming up, most of which Marsh was involved in, Jay found himself logging more hours than normal cooped up with Nadine reviewing and revising everything their boss needed to know.

Neither of them had left to do more than change clothes in days, taking turns falling asleep on the tiny couch as progress was made, inch by inch, around the clock. They were faring better than some of their coworkers, partly because neither of them had spouses at home complaining and partly because they got along so well.

At the sound of yet another yawn, Jay didn’t even look up as he spoke. “Sleep, Nadine.”

“I’m fine.”

“You keep yawning. Get some sleep, you’re exhausted.”

“Jay.” Her voice was terse. “I’m fine.”

Finally, he looked up. She was hunched over a pile of binders three deep, eyes squinted and one hand shielding them from the bright overhead lights. Frustrated that she wasn’t caring for herself, he stood, flipping the switch to cut half. “Have you taken anything for your head?”

“Yes.” She glanced up and then did a double take. “Yes, I did. It just didn’t help.”

“Then lay down and give your body a minute to recover.”

“If I stop, I’ll pass out and you’ll be on your own.”

His jaw dropped. “You don’t see a problem with being so tired you’ll do that?”

“… No.”

He started to argue his case, but their door burst open and Vincent rushed in. “We have to get to Illinois for a couple days, how fast can the two of you pack and get to the plane?”

Jay stuttered as he thought about that. “But- what about the hearings, Sir?”

“We’ll be back in time. It’ll be a red eye out and a red eye back but I need the two of you to keep me on the right page for some glad-handing I have to get done with some donors.” Vincent looked them over. “Well?”

“If we go now, an hour?” He looked to Nadine. “We can ride together?”

“Grab what you need from here and then meet me at the airstrip.” Marsh vanished again.

“I guess that’s our marching orders.” Nadine stood, shoving binders into a pile before hefting them up only to drop them again. “Jay, can you carry these. Maybe I’m more worn out than I thought.”

With a shake of his head, Jay didn’t comment as he moved her books to his and then carried them all. “Let’s go. I’ll drive.”

===

Nadine’s apartment was across town so they stopped at Jay’s first and he ran in, filling a bag as quickly as he could for a couple days of travel. He was almost done when he heard an urgent knock on his door. Rushing to answer, he was surprised it was Nadine. He turned to go finish packing, letting her in.

“I’m sorry, I just… can I use your restroom?”

“Of course. To the right there. I’ll only be another minute.” He double down to gather what he absolutely didn’t want to have to replace on the fly and rushed to make sure the coffee maker was turned off and then back to switch off his alarm, meeting Nadine at the door. “Ready?”

“I am. Thank you.”

As they got back into the car, he glanced across. “Is everything okay?” She looked suddenly upset by something.

“Fine. I think I’ll sleep on the plane and then I should be good to go.”

He aimed his car toward her building and did his best to hurry through the city. “Finally. I told you you needed sleep.”

She smirked at him. “Shut up.”

“Never.” He patted her arm. “Someone has to care about your health.” The car went quiet again and he didn’t miss how she looked pensive as she stared out the window.

===

In Illinois, they had adjoining hotel rooms, which they appreciated. It allowed them to work seamlessly during the day and have the privacy they desired at night.

The doors between the rooms were propped open. Jay was comparing two different binders, triple checking that the information he was about to hand Marsh was accurate and factual. Nadine had been on the phone back to the office in DC for an hour trying to coordinate schedules to account for their sudden time away and he could hear from where he was how angry she was getting at what was happening. He tuned her out just like he did in the office, leaving her to handle the boss stuff that didn’t involve him. That was until he heard her shout, properly shout, at Darla, the assistant for Marsh’s current speech writer.

Rushing between the rooms, Jay’s grabbed her shoulder first. “Hey, let me talk to her. Come on, calm down.” When he didn’t think she’d kill him instantly for it, he pulled the phone out of her hand. “Darla?”

The woman on the other end sniffled and acknowledged him.

“Take care of the notes and get back to me when they’re done, okay? I’ll talk to you in a bit.” His eyes never left Nadine as she angrily paced. He disconnected the call. “What the hell was that? I know the world sees you as a hard-ass, but Nadine… that crossed a line.”

“She pissed me off. I am so tired of these wimpy, wheedling answers.”

“Hey. Nadine. Look at me.” He waited until her eyes met his, shocked at the anger there. “Talk to _me_. Yell at _me_. Don’t do this.” He waved the phone in the air. “This will end your career.”

The room was silent for several minutes.

“Are you good?”

Another minute passed and then Nadine nodded. “I- I need to apologize to Darla.”

“Tomorrow. Give her time to calm down too. Now… Are you coming in to help me finish this stuff or do you need some time?”

“I’m coming.”

“Good. Then maybe you can tell me what’s up with you.” He kept her phone as he headed for his own room to finish up. He worked for a half hour before Nadine finally joined him, silently taking half the binders to work through.

Side by side, they worked in silence for an hour until he decided they needed to break for food. Dumping the binders onto the little table, he stood and stretched. “Eat in or out tonight?”

She shrugged. “I’m not really hungry.”

“Nadine. I’m not letting you go hungry any more than I let you go without sleep. In or out? It looked like we are within walking distance of quite a few choices.” When it looked like she’d refuse again, he made the choice for her. “We’re going out. Go get your jacket and if you eat your whole meal, I’ll pay.”

Almost reluctantly, she stood and headed for her own room.

“Nadine? The, uh, the zip on the back of your pants isn’t all the way up.” He blushed at pointing it out, but his embarrassment here was better than her getting embarrassed in public.

She paused in the doorway and then turned back. He thought there was shame and embarrassment in her eyes thought he didn’t understand why. “I- I know.”

He nodded. “Okay.” He didn’t want to make it a big deal if it was something that was clearly bothering her.

She stepped through the doorway, but he could still see her hand on the frame. “I couldn’t get them to zip. I- I’ve put on weight at some point and didn’t realize.”

If there was one thing Jay knew, it was that mentioning weight to a woman was always a bad idea, so he kept his mouth clamped shut. He tried to make it look like he wasn’t watching her out of the corner of his eye when he cleared up and got ready to go out. Something had been bugging her all week, but she wasn’t going to talk until she was ready.

Ready came on the walk back from the restaurant later that night.

“Jay? If I asked you for a favor, would you do it?”

They were side by side, slowly making their way back through the downtown streets. “Anything.” He could see she was looking at him now, but he kept his eyes forward.

“Would you… Would you buy me a pregnancy test?”


	5. Chapter 5

Despite him running out immediately and doing as she’d asked, Nadine had made a case for waiting until the following morning to test, most of which he didn’t understand. In the interim, once she’d changed for bed and then nervously sought him out again, she’d quietly explained why she even suspected such a thing to begin with. From there, she’d cried, telling him between the tears that she didn’t want this, couldn’t do this, and asked him what she was supposed to do. She’d stuttered out her panic over her age, her career, and being a single woman.

Eventually, she’d fallen asleep beside him. Jay stayed away, watching over her and wondering how he could even help if she was right. He was her friend, that wouldn’t change, and he’d stay at her side no matter what.

When the sun rose the next morning, he quietly started getting ready for the day, unsure how much she’d be up for. To say she’d been under a lot of stress lately, both at work and carrying around this worry, was an understatement and he was already mentally organizing his case for her to take the day if the answer was the one she wasn’t wanting.

He was just debating whether to attempt coffee in the tiny in-room machine when she began to rouse.

“Wh- where am I?”

He turned. “We’re in Illinois.”

“Yeah… Did I sleep in your bed?”

“You did.”

“I’m sorry.” She got up and started toward her room. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

“You were tired, no big deal… Nadine?” He waited for her to look up. “I’m here for you.”

Wordlessly, she closed the door between their rooms and he did his best to focus on paperwork and not worry over his friend next door. He didn’t have to wait long before she came back, this time dressed but not yet made up. “It takes three minutes.”

Abandoning their normal professional boundaries, he hugged her. “I’ll wait with you. I want you to listen to me, okay?” She nodded against his arm. “No matter what it says, I’m right here beside you, no judgment. Whatever you want to say or do, I’m still your friend and I’m still staying right here with you.”

She didn’t answer until the timer he didn’t realize she set on her phone went off. She backed away from him. “Thank you, Jay.”

“Take a breath. No matter what, you are not alone.”

Nadine nodded and vanished. When she returned, she was frowning and his heart instantly sank, fearing her life was altering forever right here in this hotel room. “It’s negative.”

A wave of relief he didn’t understand washed over him. “That’s great, right?”

“It- it could be a false negative. I need to see my doctor.”

“Of course. But Nadine, for right now, this is good news, right?” He crossed to her, resting his hands on her shoulders.

She nodded, a tear appearing on her cheek. “Yes. It’s good news.” After that, she began to cry.


	6. Chapter 6

Despite the concern she voiced several times about the high odds of a false negative, their schedule and Nadine’s devotion to the job meant it took Jay nearly two weeks to convince her to see her doctor. In that time, he adjusted his own behavior _just in case_ on the off chance the cheap plastic stick had been wrong.

She was his boss, yes, but he found himself putting his foot down on late nights and not enough sleep. He bought extra for every meal, healthy choices that involved vegetables and then made sure she ate.

Nadine complained about it, but he also kept an eye on her stress levels, stepping in when she got wound up. As far as he was concerned, it was the same as innocent until proven guilty. This time it was pregnant until proven not.

Nadine gathered her things, anxiously moving toward the door the day of her doctors visit. “If that test was wrong, you’re going to be insufferable for the next however many months, aren’t you?”

He knew she was nervous, but he was glad to see her at least tempting to smile. “Plus eighteen or more years. As your close friend, I feel it is within my rights.”

She nodded, reaching out and patting his arm before crossing to the door. “I’ll call you as soon as I know something.”

“Let me know and then we’ll go to dinner. It’ll be a celebration either way and possibly a planning session. Whatever it is, you are not alone. Keep telling yourself that.”

“Okay. I will.”

“Be safe.” As he watched her slip away, Jay wondered over what he’d just said. However many months plus eighteen years. He meant it, even if he didn’t mean to say it. Nadine hadn’t mentioned who the father might be, thought Jay could make a guess or two, but he wondered what a child of Nadine’s would look like.

Two hours of distracted working later, he finally got the call, answering quickly. “And?”

Nadine sighed. “Apparently there is something worse than being pregnant?”

He mind rushed with possible worse options. “Such as?”

The line was quiet a minute. “Getting old.”

He wasn’t following. “What?”

“My doctor said it isn’t pregnancy but the beginnings of menopause. I’m getting old. Unfortunately for you, it lasts about ten years she said.”

“Good. That’s good.” He tried to think of something better to say.

“I need to thank you though.”

“For?”

“Your nervous looking out for me and feeding me only healthy stuff helped me lose most of the weight I gained.”

“Well, this all definitely calls for a celebration tonight.”

“You still want to do that?”

“Of course I do. You’re my friend.”


	7. Chapter 7

Watching tonight’s basketball game on TV, Jay reheated leftover pizza and debated whether or not he really wanted the beer. Bachelorhood settled in hard in the evenings when he got to be home on time and lately, he’d been managing it regularly. In their world, a week something close to normal business hours was almost a vacation.

Two minutes into the third quarter, his phone rang. He wasn’t expecting to hear from anyone tonight. He saw it was Nadine and wondered if she was just as bored sitting at him. “Hey, Nadine. What’s up?”

“I-I-” There was a waver already. “I need you to come pick me up.”

“What? Where are you?”

“I- I had a date. I’m- I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I thought your meddling was silly and unnecessary but now…” Her voice went soft. “I need you to come now.”

He was already on his feet, reaching for sweats before deciding he probably need to look official. “Where are you?”

“Johnny Mead.”

If anything could be classified as a pseudo- biker dive pub, it was Johnny Mead’s. “I’m on me way.”

It took twenty minutes, but Jay pushed his way through the evening crowd to a waiter who seemed to be serving everyone. “Hey! This woman.” He held a picture on his phone screen. “What table was she at?”

The waiter turned, pointing at a table where a single man sat.

“Thank you. Which way are your bathrooms?”

“Back left corner.”

He thanked him again. “There’s a hundred bucks in it if you keep that dude from moving from that table till I get back.”

The waiter didn’t look impressed. “Prove it.”

Without hesitation, Jay dug out his wallet and flashed him two fifties. “They’re all yours if you help me out tonight.”

“I’m all yours.”

“Back and left you said?”

“Yep.”

Jay did his best to hurry through the crowd, pushing between drunken couples in the hall outside the bathroom. He banged hard on the bathroom door. “Nadine? It’s me!”

The door cracked open and all he saw were the tears in her eyes.

“Come on. Did you drive?”

“No. I took a cab.”

Jay nudged the door open. “Are you the only one in there?” When she nodded, he squeezed in and locked the door behind himself. “What happened?”

She leaned into his arms and held tight. Since comforting her a year ago around the whole pregnancy thing, Jay discovered that, away from work, the professional distance between them seemed to vanish. He didn’t mind at all. As months passed, their friendship grew. He found himself looking forward to their evenings and weekends making plans to hang out. “He’s drunk.”

“Okay.”

“We got here and he started hammering them back and just… He started to scare me. He wanted me to get in his car, Jay. He wanted me to get in his car and go back to his place.”

He could feel how she was trembling with fear. “I’m glad you called me instead.”

“That’s not all.” It took her time to elaborate and he waited. “He kept touching me, even after I said to stop. He had his hand up my skirt and when I pushed him away he…”

“He what?”

She pushed back and looked up at him and then tipped her head up further. In the harsh bathroom lighting, Jay could make out the vague red marks of what he’d bet was a handprint.

“He tried to choke you? Here?!”

“It’s not exactly a place where people are going to bat an eye over a thing like that.”

She wasn’t wrong. Digging his keys out, he pressed them into her hand. “I’m parked in the second row, halfway down on the right. Go get in and lock the doors. Text me once you’re safe.”

“You aren’t walking me out?”

“I have something else to handle first. Come on.” He unlocked the door and gently ushered her out. “I’ll walk you past the table and then you go. Don’t look back and don’t come back in, got it?”

Nadine nodded.

Jay wrapped his arm around her and saw her as far as was necessary before watching her walk the rest of the way. Once that was done, he flagged down the waiter, tucking the fifties into his hand before setting his eyes on the table and crossing the room.

Sliding into the chair that had been Nadine’s, Jay stared.

“Hey! That seats taken!”

“Not anymore it’s not. She’s not coming back.” He realized he didn’t even know this guy’s name.

“What?!”

Jay shook his head. “She’s not coming back. Good women don’t like drunks who grope and strangle them. I suggest you pay your tab and not go looking for her.”

“I want her to be mine. You can’t stop it.”

“Trust me, I can and I am. You come one step near Nadine again and I’ll make sure you don’t take a step anywhere ever again.” He stood.

“Is that a threat?”

“No, Man, it’s a promise. No one messes with my friend and gets away with it.” Pushing through the crowd, he left Nadine’s date angrily ranting at the table, too drunk to successfully follow. A fact for which Jay was grateful. At his car, he tapped on the glass, not missing how Nadine jumped as she disengaged the locks. “Ready to go home?” He asked it once he was behind the wheel.

She ducked her face. “I- I don’t really want to be alone tonight.” When she looked his way again, her eyes were wide and pleading. “Could I crash at your place? I just, I don’t really feel safe after that.”

Jay took her hand. “Yes, you can crash at my place. Anytime.”

===

The following morning, Jay woke slowly, tugging the body he was wrapped around closer. It took him several minutes of cuddling to realize that there shouldn’t be another body in his bed. Peeling his eyes open, he stared into a mess of curly brown hair that smelled familiarly of vanilla.

At some point in the night, Nadine must’ve crawled into bed beside him without him realizing. Now she was lightly snoring in his arms, dressed only in the tshirt he’d given her last night. He tried to pull away before she woke up and freaked out, but as he tried to move, he discovered their arms and legs were tangled together.

A half hour of worrying later, he felt as she began to wake, shifting in his arms but never pulling away. When she finally spoke, her voice was deep with remaining sleep and softer than he was used to hearing. “Jay.”

“I’m so sorry, Nadine. I-”

“It’s okay.” She seemed to shift back against his chest. “I’m sorry for joining you without you knowing.” She didn’t pull away. “I had a nightmare.”

He had no idea what was going on, but Jay slowly realized, he kind of liked holding Nadine like this.


	8. Chapter 8

“Is it a sad declaration of our lives that we find ourselves here on a Friday night? Again?” Jay was leaned against the chain link barrier watching as Nadine choked up on the bat. Somehow they never seemed to have Friday night dates anymore. They went out with people on other days, but somehow their Fridays were becoming a tradition.

She laughed. “Speak for yourself, I do all right.”

“But do you really?” He couldn’t believe she’d make such a claim. “Is finding the least appropriate guy around consistently doing _all right_?”

The bat cracked against a ball and she looked over her shoulder, clearly prepared to tease him tonight. “I get what I need taken care of. Isn’t that the important part?”

His mouth opened and closed a few times. “Really?” The only reply he got was another of her exuberant laughs. “You’re ridiculous!”

“Is that any way to talk to your boss?”

“Is saying… _that_ any way to talk to your subordinate? And you’re not my boss tonight, you’re my friend.”

“So what are you complaining about?”

“You’re killing me.” He said it just as she cracked another ball, the sound making her miss his statement.

“What?”

Jay only shook his head. “Are we doing Ovation for breakfast again in the morning?” After their now-habitual Friday nights not stuck at home alone, they almost always went out for breakfast somewhere on Saturday morning.

“Sounds good to me. Are we about ready to head back to your place?” The reason they had breakfast together was, on the weeks they did this part, Nadine crashed at his place. In the beginning it had made sense for her to drive to his apartment. It meant they could take a single cab or car to their choice of venue for the evening. Of course, a nightcap got added after a few trips and then, as if a normal progression of events, he invited Nadine to not try and make the drive back home.

More Saturday mornings than not, no matter the dating situation for either of them, Jay woke up with Nadine in his arms wearing one of his tshirts. He swore it was normal best friend stuff. Nothing crazy going on here. Just two friends looking for a little consistency in their otherwise crazy lives.

“I’m ready when you are.” He watched her crack one last ball and walk toward him. He opened the cage door. “I know I joke, but I really like our Fridays.”

Nadine beamed. “I do too.”

===

Over the top of his fridge door, Jay watched as Nadine kicked off her shoes and made herself comfortable, digging out a novel she’d left behind a few weeks ago and had been slowly reading ever since. “Hungry?”

“I could eat.”

Now that he’d offered, he stared into the fridge, wondering what he could actually suggest for a late meal. “I have macaroni salad and something that might’ve been tacos.”

She laughed loudly. “Oh my god! Leftover taco truck tacos?”

“Maybe?”

“Throw them way, Jay! Do you ever clean out your refrigerator?”

“I guess not.”

Her laughter carried on. “Are we going to have to start doing our grocery shopping together so I can make sure you buy real food?”

“Hey! I can buy food!”

“Doubtful.” A moment later, she was rested looking over the door. “When did you order the pizza?”

“Uhh, Wednesday night. It’s supreme with the good crust.”

“Garlic sauce?” She perked up.

“As if I would skip it.”

Putting both hands out, she made gimmie motions until he handed the box to her. She made a delighted noise, carrying it to the counter and lifting the lid, inhaling the cold pizza smell before selecting a slice and taking a giant bite before opening one of the garlic sauce pieces.

“You’re eating all that, aren’t you?”

She grinned. “Buy better food, Jay. You can have the death tacos.”

“I am not eating the ‘death tacos’. There’s half a pizza left, you can share.” When she tried to stack and lay physical claim to the remaining slices, the already bitten one dangling between her teeth, Jay lunged, making her laugh even harder. His arms wrapped around her, holding her close as she struggled to get free. “Share, Nadine.”

“Never!” It was muffled around her mouthful of food.

“Share or I start tickling you!” The mere threat had her screeching. “One slice, you can have the others.” He tripped, nearly sending the both of them, plus the pizza, to the floor. “Fine! Fine!” He turned loose, backing away. He didn’t want to see her fall and get hurt. “I will eat the death tacos. Of course, if I get sick, you’ll have to handle all of Marsh’s meetings on your own next week while I’m out.”

It was obvious she knew what game he was playing, but it still worked. “No death tacos. Here, one slice.”

“Thank you.”

“You know. They should just sell cold pizza as a thing.”

Jay laughed. “They should.” He munched his slice as he watched her hop up and sit on his counter, joyfully dipping every bite into the garlic sauce. “You’re going to breathe garlic into my face all night, aren’t you?”

Nadine grinned. “Probably.”

All he could do was shake his head. “And here I was going to tell you that while I didn’t buy any real food this week, I did pick up more of those Magnum bars.”

Instantly, Nadine dropped the uneaten pizza and rushed to the freezer, finding the box immediately. “Why didn’t you just lead with that?!”

“You needed real dinner first.”

“Dinner-shminner. I’m old enough to have ice cream for dinner once in a while.”

“You do know you’re not twenty anymore, right?”

“I know.” She gave him that wide-eyed look that he found he could never say no to. “But I can still eat like it.”

Jay sighed, already laughing. “Fine. But I get a second slice of pizza.”


	9. Chapter 9

Their office door popped open. “Nadine? Could you please bring me the updated briefings for my committee meeting from Tuesday? I have a few minutes free and would like to go over them with you in my office.”

Jay’s eyes moved from their boss to his friend. It was the third such visit in a week from Marsh requesting Nadine’s personal attention. When the door shut again, he stared, not missing the almost eager look that crossed her face. “Nadine?”

“Yeah?”

“You and Marsh have been working together a lot lately.”

She shrugged, not looking up at him. “You think so?”

It was the wrong kind of non-answer. “Oh, Nadine… No.”

Her eyes came up and met his, but she said nothing.

“Please, please tell me you’re not really interested in him. He’s our boss. And married.” He kept his voice low enough to not be overheard.

“It’s not like that, Jay.”

“Isn’t it?” He rubbed his face. “You have been weird for weeks and I’ve let it go, but is this- is this why?”

She hefted the binders into her arms. “Leave it alone.”

“I won’t.”

For the first time possibly ever, she glared at him. “It’s an order.”

Jay spent the following weeks watching closely. Every interaction around the office, every formal event they had to attend. All the watching did was irritate Nadine and make him worry for her more. Her track record screamed that this was going to end in an epic disaster, but this time, that disaster could take her career with it.

===

Jay kept his mouth shut, but he hated doing it. Months went by and it was like having two different versions of his friend. Some days it was the old Nadine, the one who laughed often and came by his place to hang out. Other days she was secretive and quiet, spending more time in Marsh’s office than her own.

He didn’t dare confront her in their office again, but on the nights she appeared on his doorstep…

“Come here.” He tugged her into a hug right inside his now closed door. She was upset and he could guess why in one. “He with his wife tonight?”

She nodded against his chest. “We- we had plans, but he decided to take her instead as a surprise. He- he said she was upset about something and a surprise night out would appease her.”

Against him, he felt the soft fabric of a dress nicer than she’d worn to the office that day and could tell she’d taken the time to restyle her hair. Vincent had no doubt not only cancelled, but cancelled at the final moment. “I’m sorry, Nadine.”

“He told me he loved me.”

Jay pulled back, hands still on her arms. “When?”

She ducked her face. “Tuesday. We, um, we spent some private time together after the office cleared. He said he’s not in love with Arabelle anymore and that he loves me.”

“You can’t believe that’s true.” He realized as she looked into his eyes, that she did. “Nadine…”

Her smile was watery. “He said he loves me.”

All he could do was sigh, pulling her back into a hug. “Thai or Italian?” They were the two that delivered the fastest to his place.

“Neither.”

“Neither?”

“I’m not really in the mood to eat. I just- I just need to not be alone. Can I- Can I hang out here a while?”

“Of course you can.” He finally started leading her toward the couch, freshly aware that she wasn’t dressed for hanging out on his couch. “Do you want to shower and change first?”

Nadine looked down at herself. “Yeah, I probably should.”

“Go on. Take what you need to change into.” There was no need anymore to show her the way or where anything was. She could find lounge pants and a shirt just as quickly on her own. “I’ll be here when you get out.”

“Thank you.”

A half hour later, she was curling into his side. “Jay?”

“Hmm?”

“What do I keep doing wrong?”


	10. Chapter 10

He’d learned to keep his mouth closed and his eyes open for what was happening between Nadine and Vincent. It hurt that she was falling so hard for a man that could never be hers, a pain that Jay refused to ponder on very hard.

He caught private moments, mostly because he knew when and where to look. He listened through Vincent’s office door when they were alone together, hearing the promises the other man made constantly. He watched the way they carefully didn’t spend too much time together at functions. The major flag, however, was the way Nadine suddenly was essential to Vincent’s trips to Caracas.

After the first such trip, Jay didn’t miss the way Vincent’s driver started regarding Nadine differently. He knew, after that, that things between them had gotten serious.

He let it go, let her live her life without his interference. She was discrete about what was going on and refused to ever speak of it, even to him… unless something happened between them. Jay was learning that Vincent could be cruelly dismissive, especially of Nadine. He watched as their boss would shower her with attention and then ask something of her that was, as far as Jay was concerned, wildly inappropriate.

There was the November that Vincent took only her back to Illinois for nearly two weeks and then insisted she hold down the office, nearly alone, the entire week of Thanksgiving.

Weeks later, Jay watched as her annual plan of attending First Night was cancelled as she was literally putting on her coat to walk out the door because Vincent wanted there to be some press release put out over himself and Arabelle going to the Ballet.

The first year of the affair carried on that way, with Jay watching the whole thing. He hated it. He knew, deep down, that if something happened, really happened, Nadine would be left on her own to twist in the wind. He just didn’t expect that thing to involve her health.

===

“Are you okay?” He didn’t miss the stiff way Nadine eased herself into the chair. He hadn’t missed the way she’d been doing it for weeks, nor the way she’d started asking people to bring things to her versus chasing them down as she’d always done.

Nadine stared at him, clearly hating the question and clearly ready to lie.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“Fine.” She huffed. “No, Jay, I’m not okay. Happy? Now, leave it alone.”

Double checking their door was closed, he tossed his pen down and rolled his chair toward her desk. “I will remind you, whether it is today, tomorrow, or thirty years from now, you can trust me with anything and I will always be there to listen.”

She clearly was dubious about that as she stared at him.

“I mean it Nadine. No matter what I think about you and-” He waved at the wall. “You are still my friend.”

After a several minute pause, she relented on keeping silent. “It hurts.”

“What hurts?”

“Everything… It hurts to walk, it hurts to stand up or sit down, it… I can’t take the stairs. Taking _any_ stairs nearly has me in tears… It all hurts and I’m… I’m scared.”

“Of?”

“Of my life ending. Of my life changing. Of being replaced in all kinds of ways=”

“-No one can replace you.”

“What good’s an employee who can’t walk, Jay? Do you have any idea what it was like on our last trip to Caracas?” He didn’t miss the frustrated tears in her eyes. “I was in agony and it ruined everything because I couldn’t hide it.”

That she was still being cryptic didn’t go unnoticed by him, but for now he waited her out. “What’s a doctor say?”

Her response wasn’t what he expected. “That I need my hip replaced. Sooner rather than later. I’ll be off my feet to some degree for six months, maybe more. But… I can’t do it.”

“Can’t do what?”

“Have surgery.”

“…Why?”

She cupped both hands over her face, rubbing outward and wiping away the tears they were both pretending weren’t there. “Short answer?”

“As good a place to start as any.”

“Vincent isn’t going to care for me for six months or more. He’s not even ever going to care for me for an afternoon. His wife would notice.”

“Are you hearing yourself right now?” When she glared at him, he put his hands up. “Stopping.”

“Without- without surgery I’ll end up trapped in my body. I’ll…”

“You’ll what?”

She sucked in a breath. “I’ll get worse and worse until I can’t walk at all.”

He studied her for a long while, debating whether to follow his first impulse or to think of something else. “There’s… there’s really no one else who can help you?”

Her head shook as she stared at her hands.

“Then I will.”

“What?”

“I’ll help. What’s it going to entail? Picking up some groceries? Running errands? Driving you home from the hospital? Sounds easy enough.”

“I can’t ask you to do that, Jay. I can’t interrupt your life.”

“Granted my dating life isn’t quite as abysmal as yours-”

“Hey!”

“-But it’s not exactly stellar either. Maybe I need a break to reassess what I’m looking for anyway. It might be good for me to put my energy somewhere else.”

She half-glared at him in silence.

“Maybe you could use a break too to rethink what you’re doing.”

“If you’re going to just hound me, I’ll manage on my own.”

“It’s not hounding and I genuinely am worried that you’re throwing everything away.”

“Jay…”

“Do you want my help or not?”

Nadine swallowed, turning her face for a minute before glancing back. “Yes, please.”


	11. Chapter 11

Jay hovered in the corner of the room, watching and listening as nurses and doctors came in and out to do final checks and get consent forms signed. He listened to the anesthesiologist ask questions and nurses verify medical details. It was a blur of people in scrubs speaking things he barely understood and it looked to him, based on her wide eyes and the chewing of her bottom lip, like Nadine was growing overwhelmed by all of it.

When the room cleared, he took a seat on the edge of the bed, reaching out for her hand. “You okay?”

She nodded, but it was too fast.

“I’m not leaving till they take you back, so anything you want to say or you’re thinking about, you can just say it.” He waited. “I’m headed to work, but your nurse has my phone number and if you want me back, just tell her and I’ll make some excuse to come.”

“Vincent needs you.”

“He can live for a day. As soon as my day is done, I’ll be back. By the time you wake up, it won’t be all that long. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Hey.” He tipped her chin up. “You’re going to rock this.”

All Nadine could do was nod.

Once she was rolled away to the OR, Jay tracked down her nurse. “Please, if she seems upset or anything, don’t hesitate to call me. She’s- she’s not likely to admit she’s hurting or scared, so trust your gut.”

“We will, Sir.”

“Thank you.” Anxiously, he headed for the elevators to head to work for the day, leaving Nadine on her own.

===

He didn’t hear from the hospital all day, and was running late getting out of the office to boot, so his nerves were more than shot as he worried over what kind of state Nadine would be in when he got back to her. If there was one certainty he knew above all else from his over three years of friendship with her, it was that she could be the most stubborn person alive. So it was no wonder, when he finally made it through her doorway, that he found her clearly, and silently, in pain.

“I want to go home, Jay. I don’t want to be here.”

“You know that can’t happen now. What’d your doctor say?”

“Three to five days.”

“It won’t kill you.”

“… You don’t know that.”

“Nadine… Aren’t you being just a little childish?”

“No.”

She continued insisting she wasn’t in pain through the evening, through dinner that she barely choked down, and then into the night, even as tears randomly dripped down her cheeks. It wasn’t until she was almost asleep that she broke, tearfully asking Jay to find a nurse and then cuddle her until the pain stopped.

He couldn’t have said no if he wanted to.


	12. Chapter 12

It was the third day Nadine was out of work. Jay was trying to pull double duty handling everything they both normally did on his own. When the office door opened, he didn’t even stop to look and see who it was. “Yes?”

“Do you have a moment?”

Jay dropped the briefing he was flipping through and looked up at his boss. “One. Maybe.”

“I’d- I’d heard you were helping Nadine through this little procedure she’s had and the recovery-”

“Little? She’s had one of the biggest joints in her body replaced. I’d hardly call that little.”

“Right.” Vincent shoved his hands in his pockets. “When are you seeing her next?”

Suspiciously, he eyed him. “I go every day after work, why?”

“Tell her I hope she gets better soon. We miss her around here.”

His brows shot up. In three days, it was the first time Vincent even acted like he’d noticed Nadine was gone and he knew for a fact the other man hadn’t been past the hospital because he’d asked. “Yeah. I’ll tell her.”

It looked like Vincent was going to say something else, but then after a beat he turned to leave. Despite his better judgment, and knowing it would be months before Nadine could really kill him, Jay opened his mouth again.

“Sir?”

“Yeah?” He turned back to Jay.

“Nadine and I are very good friends. She’s able to trust me to always be there, no matter what. I’ve seen her through heartbreak and bad days before and I’m seeing her through this… She keeps nothing from me. Ever.”

Vincent only stared a moment. “I see.”

“Physically, she’ll recover just fine. Emotionally will take some time. She- she doesn’t need anything else making her worse, making her more stressed or upset.” He looked away, wondering just how far to push it. “She needs people who are either all-in to support her or nothing at all. She doesn’t need to be strung along.”

Wordlessly, Vincent walked away.

Sagging into his chair, Jay wondered just how deep a hole he’d just dug himself.

===

“- And Nurse Ratched refused to let me wait until you got here to walk. I tried telling her that you would help, but she thought it was bad to wait so late.”

“Or. Maybe she thought that if she pushed you, you’d do it a second time with me?” He finished organizing their dinners and pushed the tray into place, sitting alongside her non-injured leg. “Dinner is served.”

“I could get used to this, you know?” When he looked up, there was a twinkle in her eyes. “Waited on hand and foot, dinner served to me in bed.”

“You wouldn’t last a week as a kept woman.”

“I don’t know. I might be willing to give it a try.”

“And give up all your ambitions?”

She shrugged. “Ambitions change.”

“Oh. Vincent stuck his head in today and said to tell you that you are missed around the office.” He left off the rest of what was said. “I’m guessing that’s as close to caring as you’ll get from him.”

“Jay-”

“Nadine- Not even a card? Not flowers? Has he at least called?” He waited, she didn’t answer. “That doesn’t bother you?”

Pushing the tray away, she wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m not hungry anymore.”

“You have to eat.”

“I’m not hungry, Jay.”

Slowly, he nodded. “Okay. Fine.” He knew better than to keep pushing. “Ready to take our walk then?” She didn’t answer, so he stood, moving the tray and everything else out of the way and reaching for her walker.

“I hate that thing.”

“I know. You’ll be off it and on a cane by the time you go home. Come on, on your feet.”

“You are irritating.” She pushed off the bed and carefully stood, grabbing for his arm. “You push the stupid walker, I’ll hold into you.”

“I…” He thought better of objecting. “I can live with that.” He would live with whatever got her out of the hospital fastest. “You can hold onto me for as long as you need to.”


	13. Chapter 13

“I am begging you, Nadine, to please just let me have my rules, as neurotic as they are, so I can sleep at night? Please? I don’t think they’re all that crazy.”

“You don’t think I should shower alone, Jay. Pretty crazy.”

“That’s… not entirely what I said and I didn’t mean it the way you just said it.” When she smirked, he rolled his eyes. They were at her apartment daily now since she couldn’t yet drive again. “I asked that you wait until I or someone else is here in case you fall. Hell, I’ll settle for putting me on speak phone in the next room so I can hear if something happens, just… I really don’t want to come by and find you broken in the bottom of your shower.”

She made a frustrated huff. “Fine. If it would make you happy-”

“Nothing would make me happier-”

“-To be here to supervise while I shower-”

“Really?”

“- I guess I can live with that.” She scooped another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth and then grinned around the spoon.

Jay dropped his face into his free hand. “You’re feeling much better, aren’t you?”

“I want to go back to work, Jay.”

“Should’ve seen that coming.”

“Since you’re so hell bent on looking after me, you can drive me there and back.”

“Do you have even this slightest inkling of what ‘take it easy’ means?”

“No.”

Jay sighed dramatically.

“I have a desk job, you know.”

“I’m aware, yes.”

“I shouldn’t have to sit out this long.”

“It’s been a week.” He tried to shift the subject. “Has Vincent contacted you at all?” Her silence was answer enough. “Please, please see what is happening?” More silence. “You’re going to run right back to him when you get back, aren’t you?”

“I think I love him.”

“… Of course you do.”

Nadine finished her ice cream quietly and Jay let her have the peace. If she felt that she loved Vincent, then he had to accept it was time to at least support her, even if he refused to support the relationship. All he wanted in the world was to see Nadine happy, and if it meant seeing her standing in the shadows waiting for Vincent to remember her, well… Then he’d stand in the dark with her.

“You get your doctor to clear you and I’ll drive you to and from work. I’ll- I’ll drive you wherever you need to go.”

“Really?”

Jay bobbed his head. “All I want is for you to be happy.”

“Work makes me happy.”

“I know.” He let his eyes wander her place. “Is there anything I can help you with tonight?”

“Since you’re so insistent, I will shower before you leave.”


	14. Chapter 14

After her first few days back, Jay began to notice that if Vincent was around, Nadine refused to use her cane. The first couple times it happened, she brushed it off as being forgetful, she simply wasn’t used to having it, but as weeks went on, Jay grew suspicious. He didn’t voice his concern until she hobbled in one afternoon, clearly in pain.

“Why are you doing this to yourself?”

“Doing what?” She eased into her seat.

Jay stood and shut the door. “Pushing yourself too fast like this.”

“I’m fine.”

He knew that meant she wasn’t, she just didn’t want to talk. “What did he say?”

When no response came, he finally looked up to find her staring at him. “What?” She finally asked.

“The cane doesn’t bother you any other time, only when he’s around, so… What did he say?”

She finished making notes on the page she was reviewing and moved on to the next before finally answering. “He took one look at me waking with it and asked if I’d be an invalid forever now.” The room went silent except for the turning of another page. “He’s happier when I’m not leaning on the reminder that there’s something wrong with me. It’s bad enough that…”

He was prepared to let it go, but when he looked up, there was something almost haunted in her eyes. “What’s bad enough, Nadine?”

She blushed. “It’s nothing. It would be inappropriate to discuss it.”

That time, he did let it go. Neither of them spoke again until it passed noon and he heard her stomach growl. “Let’s go eat.”

“I have to get through this.”

“I’ll pay.”

“Jay, I have get this finished on time.”

“Why? Big plans tonight?” It was out his mouth before he thought it through. “Oh…”

“Arabelle is in New York. We don’t get many opportunities like this when she’s home.”

“I’ll help you get it done.”

“Fine.” She huffed, standing and starting for the door until he halted her, pointing back at the cane. “I can walk without it.”

“You will overdo it. I want you safe and healthy.”

===

Sitting across the table from his date, a woman named Jenna he’d met the week before, Jay laughed at a story she was sharing. “So, you enjoy working at the library then?”

“Oh, yes! And really, being in the children’s area, it’s awesome. You get to watch the kids come in and discover new ideas and see as they put together how to sound something out. It’s magic, really.”

He grinned. “I bet. It takes a certain kind of person to love that kind of work.”

“I think the same could be said about your job too though, right?”

“Yeah. It could. Some days I wonder why I do it, but there is something pretty awesome about getting into the meat of how policy is written, how decisions are made.” Hos phone ringing cut him off.

“Oh, work?”

“Um, not quite.” He glanced up at her. “It’s a friend of mine, from work. She had surgery not long ago. Do you mind?”

“No, go ahead.”

He didn’t even leave the table, not worried about Jenna hearing. “Nadine? What’s up? I thought you were…busy tonight?”

“Are- are you home?” He could hear she had been, or still was, crying. The last time he’d seen her, nearly three hours ago, she’d been all smiles.

“No, I’m on a date.”

“Oh. Okay. I’ll- I’ll let you go. Sorry.”

“Wait! Na-” The line cut off and he made a frustrated sound. “I’m sorry. Something’s wrong, give me a second.” He dialed Nadine back. “Talk to me.”

“I was just going to ask you for a ride back to my place is all. I’ll figure it out though.”

“No, Nadine. Where are you? Where is… your date?” He looked up at Jenna who wore a look of concern for the stranger on the other end of his phone.

“He went home.”

“…From?”

“Waterfront Park. He wanted to walk after dinner, so we walked down here and then he left me here. I’m- I’m too far from the road to just get a cab to get me, I won’t make it back up there on my own.”

Jay sighed, letting his face fall into his free hand for a moment. “Because he hates your cane.” It wasn’t a question. He knew without asking that she was down there without it, and that she’d almost certainly walked well beyond her limitations and now she sat alone and unable to move in a dark park.

“You’re on a date. Go back to her. What’s her name?”

“Uh,” he looked up again, “her name is Jenna. She works at the library.”

“What’s wrong?” Jenna whispered.

He covered the microphone on the phone. “She got left somewhere by her date and can’t walk well enough to get out and home. It’s- it’s to do with the surgery I mentioned. She lives alone and I’ve been the only one helping her through.”

Jenna’s brows pulled together. “Then let’s go get her.”

“What? Are you sure?”

She huffed. “Your friend is hurt? Alone? Yes, Jay, let’s go.”

“Um, Nadine? Apparently we are on our way to get you so… just don’t do anything I wouldn’t approve of.”

“I guess that leaves sitting and breathing… Jay?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

Ending the call, Jay looked over again. “Are you sure?”

“She’s your friend, Jay. And you said she’s depending on you.” She was already standing and licking up her things. “I am sure.”

===

Side by side they walked the paths of Waterfront Park in search of Nadine. It was Jenna who spotted her first. “There’s someone sitting up there, is that her?”

Jay looked up. “Yes.” He started to jog. “Nadine!” When they got to the bench, he quickly made introductions and the offered his hands to help her to her feet. “I expect to hear exactly why he left you.” Her arm wrapped around his waist and his hand tucked under her arm as they started the slow walk out. “You and I are going to have a long talk later.


End file.
